Raiders' first road win in two years reveals a plan
MIAMI -- Disaster struck with less than three minutes left in the third quarter.
One series after Daunte Culpepper had leaped into the end zone from the 5-yard line, giving the Oakland Raiders a 21-10 lead Sunday over the Miami Dolphins, Oakland's defense forced a punt and a 12-game road losing streak was on the ropes.
Except Johnnie Lee Higgins was felled by a wrap-around tackle from Miami's Edmond Miles, with the ball coming loose and Derrick Pope recovering Oakland 33 with 2:45 to play.
Five plays later, Trent Green found a wide open Justin Peelle in the end zone for a touchdown and the Dolphins were within 21-17. The Dolphins were in business, and the Dolphin Stadium crowd was awakened from its slumber.
Here we go again.
At this point, anyone who has watched the Oakland Raiders play football for the last four years knew what was coming next.
It was the classic momentum swing, with the pendulum swinging irreversibly the other way. All that was left was that endless cross-country trip back home to ponder another one that got away.
"If it was last year, we would have lost," linebacker Kirk Morrison said in the euphoric aftermath of a 35-17 win for Oakland's first win away from McAfee Coliseum since it beat the Washington Redskins 16-13 on Nov. 20, 2005.
How did the Oakland Raiders do it?
The starting time was delayed 30 minutes because there was lightning
in the sky. Once it began, the Dolphins had no answer for the thunder on the ground.
Already gashing Miami with regularity, the Oakland Raiders took it to another brutal, physical, spirit-crushing level which left the Dolphins weak and helpless.
Taking over at their own 21, the Oakland Raiders ran the ball 10 consecutive times for 52 yards, before Culpepper provided the dagger -- a 27-yard touchdown strike to Jerry Porter on third-and-9.
The Dolphins went three-and-out, and Oakland did it again. This time, it was an 82-yard drive on nine consecutive running plays, with Culpepper providing the exclamation point by running around right end for a 3-yard score on fourth down.
The Oakland Raiders ran the ball on 19 of their last 20 plays for 134 yards.
Culpepper, returning to the team which dumped him in favor of Trent Green after four games, filled the tiny interview room, passing for two touchdowns and rushing for three.
Coach Lane Kiffin was even willing to concede Culpepper was his starting quarterback over Josh McCown.
Sort of.
"Daunte's the starter right now. If we played today," Kiffin said with a smirk.
Looking at the overall picture regarding the future of the franchise, the top story line is something even bigger than Culpepper or Jamarcus Russell, the future of the franchise who suited up for the first time.
Oakland rushed for 299 yards on 41 carries, its most yards in a game since Bo Jackson ran over Brian Bosworth in the Kingdome the night the Oakland Raiders set a team-rushing record with 356 yards on Nov. 30, 1987.
Their backup tailback, Justin Fargas, took over when LaMont Jordan (74 yards, 15 carries) aggravated a back injury and ran for 179 yards on 22 carries.
Miami came in ranked 29th in rushing defense. This was not an opponent which put up much resistance.
"It's pretty pathetic when the backup running back gets in the game and has his best day against you," Miami linebacker Joey Porter said.
You want to be careful about making too much out of beating a bad opponent. Kiffin tried to offer some perspective.
"We did win, we're 2-2 and we beat an 0-3 team who's now 0-4," Kiffin said. "We still have a lot of work to do."
Point taken.
Miami is a mess, no doubt about it.
The Dolphins are adrift, lacking a mission and an identity.
What the Oakland Raiders demonstrated Sunday is they have both. Kiffin has a plan, and the Oakland Raiders are carrying it out.
When Higgins fumbled, the first person to greet him was defensive tackle Warren Sapp. Sapp embraced Higgins and gave him a reassuring pat on the helmet.
No worries.
"Here's the difference. In years past, the message would have wavered at that point," Sapp said. "Now, it's just a straight, clean message - go back to what you're doing, move the ball, get a drive going. Justin went out there and we ran it down the throat and got us a touchdown.
"They're going to bend. They're going to want to quit. We kept pounding 'em and pounding 'em, opening that road like a damn freeway."
As good as Fargas was, it's not unreasonable to think success would have come the way of Adimchobe Echemandu had he gotten the ball.
"When you believe in a system, and you start rolling, if someone goes down, the next guy goes in," Kiffin said. "That's what you need -- a team that prepares that way, just in case."
Sapp is fond of saying "stats are for losers," but the stats Kiffin cares most about said a lot about the Oakland Raiders.
Culpepper, who passed only 12 times, completing 5 for 70 yards and two touchdowns to Porter, was sacked just once. The Oakland Raiders had only two penalties for 15 yards -- not one against a member of the offensive line. Higgins' lost fumble was the only turnover.
"We're starting to get on a roll," said Oakland Raiders left tackle Barry Sims, who handled Miami defensive end Jason Taylor, Porter and anyone else who came his way. You look back at our first two games and what our record would be and it's really disappointing we couldn't come out them with a win."
Winning one of them would have meant the Oakland Raiders would be 3-1 and all alone in first place in the AFC West, instead of tied with Denver and Kansas City.
Four games into the Kiffin regime, that doesn't sound so ridiculous any more.
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